Match Report

By Brian Bennett

One point from a possible 12 has plunged Ashington into the bottom four of the NPL East Division and they are facing an early season battle to climb away from the clutches of the relegation trap door.

Saturday’s clash against fellow strugglers Grimsby Borough at the Bradley Football Development Centre was regarded to be a ‘must win’ rather than a ‘must not lose’ encounter for the Wansbeck outfit but ultimately, the contest was over by half time as the hosts had moved into a 3-0 lead.

Marc Ellison’s side did show some improvement after the break but the damage had already been done.

The game got under way in glorious sunshine and for the opening quarter hour there was nothing to choose between the two sides.

But all that changed in the 17th minute after an under-hit pass by Ashington ‘keeper Matty Alexander was pounced on by Harvey Cribb.

The midfielder surged forward into the box but with Alexander out of position and an open goal in front of him, Cribb put his effort wide.

However, the referee blew to award a free-kick to Grimsby then consulted with his assistant as to whether the infringement had occurred inside or outside the area.

The man in the middle pointed to the spot and Kieron Ceesay sent Alexander the wrong way with a confidently struck penalty.

Incredibly, the incident was the first of only three noteworthy events in the opening period – the other two being further goals by the home side inside a five minutes period shortly before the interval.

In the 38th minute, a free-kick deep inside the Grimsby half was glanced on by Alex Graham to Josh Clarke who cut inside a defender and curled a right footer wide of Alexander and just inside the upright.

Things went from bad to worse for the Colliers when they conceded a crucial third.

A long punt upfield by home ‘keeper Heath Richardson was played on to Luke Ayris and his snap shot from the edge of the area found the net despite Alexander getting a hand to it.

For the start of the second half, Ashington manager Ellison shuffled the pack, introducing Harry Powell and Bryan Taylor for Noah Cunningham and Scott Lowery respectively.

And on 51 minutes, it was Powell who had the Colliers’ first shot of the game with an effort from 30 yards which went narrowly over.

Grimsby went straight to the other end and after Alexander had parried away an effort  by Ceesay, Cribb blazed over the rebound.

The Colliers had shouts for a penalty when Josh Gilchrist went to ground then two minutes later, a goal-bound right footer by Gilchrist brought a save out of Richardson with the stopper pushing the ball away to safety.